A sociolinguistic portrait of German preschoolers with hearing disorders

Introduction:

Two samples of German preschoolers were analyzed retrospectively in regard to the sociolinguistic/sociodemographic characteristics of children with hearing disorders.

Methods:

In the first sample, 6,144 four-year-old children participated in a state-wide, obligatory language screening, including 121 children with hearing disorders. In the second sample, 2,944 three- to six-year-old children were tested with the same test, “Kindersprachscreening”, in a test validation study, including 79 participants who did not hear well often or always. Questionnaires for parents and daycare center teachers were utilized to assess demographic characteristics of children and their families. Differences between children with and without hearing disorders were assessed by means of univariate statistics from both demographic and linguistic angles.

Results:

Children with hearing disorders scored significantly lower in all linguistic domains-vocabulary, grammar, speech comprehension, articulation, phonological short-term memory-than other children. Hearing impairments were associated with comorbid medical issues such as intellectual disabilities, stuttering, voice disorder, but also with language disorders or “reading and writing problems” in the family. Immigrant parents believed more often than German parents that their children did not have hearing disorders, whereas kindergarten teachers believed the opposite. Children with hearing disorders demonstrated behavioral patterns associated with restraint and unwillingness or inability to communicate with other children.

Conclusions:

The results indicate that children with hearing disorders tended to demonstrate weak results in the language tests, to suffer from other medical issues, and to withdraw from interaction with peers.

Publication History

Publication Date:
18 April 2018 (online)